The Henfield Pram Race was a well-loved institution, started by a group of Henfielders in the 1960s to raise money for charity. Each of the six pubs sponsored one or two "mothers" and "babies" - usually burly lads dressed as mums and those of more slender build dressed as babies. The first race started at the Henfield Club, and each mum had to push their baby round the village at a run, drinking a half of bitter at each pub on the way. Not as easy as it sounds. The last part of the course was a steep dash upwards to the George with three pints swilling around inside, and one or two of the mums were often sick! Before the present licensing hours came into being, the pubs were open all day on Pram Race day - quite a novelty - and there was informal music in many of the pubs, with villagers wandering from pub to pub for a drink and a laugh.

The pictures here show the last race to be run, in 1979, which started at the George, and continued to the Gardeners Arms, then the Cat & Canary, then the Bell, the White Hart and the Plough, finishing up at the George. If memory serves, I believe the winning "mum" might have been Jamie Walls.It ended in that year, partly through pub landlords apathy, partly because of police reluctance to stop the High Street traffic while the race assembled and started. There was a half-hearted attempt to revive it a year or so later, but it fizzled out.

I discovered this strip of film while digitising a boxful of old negatives - it was a joy to see it all again. If you can put names to any of the faces here, please contact me. So - here we have:

Pram race 1: Outside the Henfield club. The dashing mum in the red stockings is Paul Yates - known as "Raz" to his friends.

Pram race 2: A group of spectators and a pram pair in Cagefoot Lane, just outside Owen Parker's newsagents, the predecessor of Stokes's.

Pram race 3: More mums and babies outside the club. Paul Yates, in the brown ensemble and matching hat, is just left of centre. The blushing young mum at the left of the picture, in pink and white stripes and a blonde wig, is Vic Clark. Note that the war memorial on the club wall has yet to have its matching plaques erected.

Pram race 4: Ready for the off. Jamie Walls is in pole position. The tall figure in black in front of the line of prams, with his back to the camera, is Mike Bingham, landlord of the George, who started the race. The Owen Parker sign can be clearly seen over the current Stokes's shop, and the shop next door - now Antiques & Home - was a haberdashers called Williams.

Pram race 5: The race has started - just time to grab a quick picture before the line of prams hurtles down the High Street towards Golden Square and Nep Town Road.

Pram race 6: Some wag in a front running pram exploded a rook cartridge just after the race started, hoping to distract the rear runners and filling the street with a cloud of blue smoke.

Pram race 7: The race end - Vic Clark can just be seen behind the little girl on the bicycle, being handed his final half from the George, outside what is now Lloyds Pharmacy but was then Astons chemists's shop.

Pram race 8: A clearer view of Vic Clark and his baby.

Pram race 9: Jamie Walls at the end of the race. It was not many years after this that Jamie broke his back in a car crash and, after a misadventure or two, died of infection from burns caused by a kitchen fire.

Pram race 10: Jamie Walls and spectators. What is now Aniseed, the Indian restaurant, was then Kent's Restaurant, owned by John Kent. Betchleys garage had become Henfield Motors - you can see the petrol pumps in the forecourt - and the building is now home to Trax. The bald man in the black sweater and trousers, carrying a board with "Finish" on it, is Mike Bingham.

This site was last updated on 19th november 2018, and is the property and copyright of Mike ainscough